The Last Ones Standing
by JoleneMarie
Summary: Daryl and his wife, an ex-Afghanistan War Marine, surviving through the trials and tribulations of season 1. Tell me what you think! Please REVIEW! Daryl/OC Rated T for language. (CHAPTER 6 now up! Last chapter for season 1!)
1. Chapter 1

So this was previously my Oneshot but I have officially decided to make a series! For some reason I think this is a great idea so Im going with it! Again, I warn that this is going to be not Mary-Sue ish so if you dont like it, dont read! Will follow the TV show and Ill throw some flashbacks in there as we go along. Lots if reviews, please! Let me know you guys are interested!

It was barely sunrise when Daryl and Gemma awoke from a less than comfortable sleep in the woods the previous night. But that was life on the hunt. They were silent as they shared a small breakfast and readied themselves to continue on the trail of large buck they had spent most of the previous day tracking.

Gemma was light on her feet as she followed her husband through the trees, leaving their temporary camp behind as if no one had been there. Her rife slug across her back, she slowed up and allowed him to take the lead forward. Daryl carefully scanned the forest floor for clues of wildlife. His eyes never blinking as they took in the area and ears ever alert for signs of more than the single set of soft footsteps behind him.

Finally, a deer track.

Daryl whistled once and Gemma quicken her pace toward him, tightening her slipping flannel shirt that was tied around her waist. When she caught up, Daryl pointed out the trail. She nodded, lightly blowing her bangs from her face.

Gemma looked above her at the trees, trying to spot one that went high enough. When she found one, she began to climb. Daryl watched her carefully. She climbed for a while, trying to reach a good vantage point where she could stand steadily and see out. She stood on a branch firmly at the top of the tree and brought her rifle around. Using the scope to see through the trees and out into the clearings ahead. She adjusted her scope and stood nearly unmoving against the tree, scanning. Her long, now greasy and sweaty hair was tied messily behind her for she had no time to bother with it. Her lightly tanned skin glinted with sweat and dirt from the patches of sunlight coming through the trees. Her dark green tank top blended in with the leaves around her. Tucked into the brush, she was almost invisible. The only thing that really stood out was the sleeve of tattoos on her left arm going from neck to finger tip. A collection she had accumulated over 10 years.

Daryl stood on the ground, crossbow at the ready, watching his wife as she climbed down from her tree-top hiding place. Once grounded, she spoke finally.

"Signs of life. 'Bout three miles out."

Daryl nodded and they continued forward. Gemma often took to the trees. She loved being able to see everything and was easily able to blend in with her surroundings.

They followed the trail through the forest and into a clearing Gemma had scanned through earlier. Sure enough they could see where the buck had slept for the night. They weren't far behind.

A few more hours passed as the sun rose higher. It was nearly mid day. Gemma was once again perched in a tree, using her hands to guide Daryl towards his prey. She briefly adjusted her scope as Daryl took point behind a log. He was finally closing in on his prize. Daryl put his hand up as he caught the buck in his sights. The next noise was that of as arrow piercing through the trees and hitting flesh. Gemma smiled. They had this down so perfect.

Daryl headed straight down to claim his buck before something worse did. Gemma took a minute to lower her rifle and wipe the sweat from her forehead. What she heard next was yelling, Daryl for sure and others. She quickly hopped down from her tree and went to go investigate.

Breaking through the trees she found Dale, Glenn, Jim, Daryl, Shane, Lori, Andrea, Amy, the kids and a man she did not recognize crowded around their deer and a dead walker.

"... Mother-less, poxy, bastard!" Were the woods that came from Daryl's mouth as he kicked the walker.

"Ah no! You gotta be shitting me! We tracked that damn thing for miles!" Gemma groaned with anger. She worked so hard to find that stupid animal.

"Goddamn flesh eater got it first, I knew it!" Daryl fumed, "Think we can cut around this chewed up bit right there?"

Daryl looked up at Shane.

"I wouldn't risk that." Was Shane's response.

"Thats a damn shame," Said Daryl, "I was gonna cook us up some venison. Whelp, we got squirrels. 'Bout a dozen or so. That'll have to do."

They were about to head back to camp when the walker's decapitated head started to bite at us.

"Oh, gross." Groaned Amy.

Gemma efficiently smashed its head with her rifle.

"Gotta go for the brain. Don't you people know nothin'? " said Daryl.

They headed back into camp, Daryl carrying his squirrels and Gemma in tow.

"Merle! Get your ass out here!" Daryl called, "Got some squirrels! Lets stew 'em up."

"Hey Daryl slow up a bit I wanna talk to you." Shane called after him.

"'Bout what?" Daryl turned to him, Gemma coming to a stop in front of him.

"Its about Merle." Said Shane, "There was a bit of a problem up in Atlanta."

Daryl looked to the ground for a minute. "Is he dead?"

"We don't know for sure."

"Either he is or he ain't!" Daryl was getting pissed. These men were obviously dancing around something horrible.

"Look theres no easy way to say this so Ill just say it." Said the man Gemma and Daryl had not met.

"Yeah? Who are you?" Said Daryl.

"Im Rick Grimes."

"'Rick Grimes'" Daryl mocked, "You got something you wanna say to me?"

"Your brother was a danger to us all. So I handcuffed him on a roof hooked to a piece of metal. He's still there."

Gemma stood back now, watching what would happen next. She could tell her husband was about to lose it. He began to pace and breath heavy. Be fore she could react Daryl was already yelling.

"Let me wrap my head around this. Your telling me you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you LEFT HIM THERE?!" Daryl was enraged now.

"Yeah." was Rick's only answer.

And before any of them could blink, Daryl hurled his squirrels at Rick's face and leapt at him. Rick dodged him and Daryl promptly took out his knife. Gemma had her hand on her pistol as she watched this unfold. Her rifle was now sitting on a table a few feet from her.

"Watch the knife!" Someone called out.

Shane was on Daryl instantly. He wrestled the knife from Daryl before putting him in a choke hold. Thats when Gemma couldn't stand it anymore.

"Choke holdings illegal!" Said Daryl.

"File a complaint" replied Shane.

Gemma walked up to Shane and point her pistol directly at his skull. "Best let him go." She said darkly. "I wont hesitate."

Rick them came over with his hands up. "You must be Gemma Dixon then, I take it."

"Thats right." Gemma replied, not moving or taking her sights off Shane.

"Look," said Rick "We just want to have a nice conversation about this. Think we can all handle that?" He looked at Daryl. "Think we can handle that?"

Shane released Daryl and Gemma holstered her gun.

"What I did was not on a whim." Said Rick " Your brother was gonna get us all killed."

"Its part my fault." T-Dog spoke up, "I had the key, but I dropped it."

"You couldn't pick it up?" Gemma snapped, now by Daryl's side again.

"I dropped it down the drain. But on the way out I was able to chain up the door so the geeks couldn't get at him"

"Thats gotta count for something." Said Rick.

"If thats supposed to make me feel better it don't! Now at least tell me where he's at. So's I can go get 'em." Said Daryl.

"He'll show you, ain't that right, Rick?" Came Lori's voice from by the RV.

"Thats right." Said Rick, his wife giving him a look and going into the RV, "Im going back."

With that decided, Gemma and Daryl returned to their tent. Upon entering, Gemma quickly kicked off her boots and lay back against her sleeping bag for a moment. Daryl kicked off his own shoes and slumped down beside her.

"Baby," Gemma reached over and gently took his hand, "He's gonna be fine. He's Merle."

Daryl sighed, "Yeah, I know. I just cant believe these stupid assholes for leaving him."

"They don't know him like we do, babe, thats all." As much as Gemma loved her brother-in-law, even she could certainly understand that he is a hard man to deal with. Especially if you don't know him.

Daryl sighed once more and brought her hand up to his lips. "You ready to do this, babe?"

Gemma nodded. "Always."

Gemma changed quickly and they walked right on Shane calling Merle a douchebag.

"Hey! Choose your words more carefully." Said Daryl.

"Naw, douchebags what I meant." Shane retorted.

"So, you, Gemma and Daryl, thats your big plan?" Lori retorted to Rick.

He looked at Gemma. "Are you sure your up for this, Mrs. Dixon?"

Daryl let out a small chuckle at that. Gemma smiled as she loaded a new clip into her pistol. "Darlin', don't you go worrying 'bout little old me. Ill be just fine."

"Your rifle and your tattoos." Shane spoke up, "Your were a Marine, right?"

Gemma looked down at her tattooed arm. There was a pair of boots, helmet and rifle with a date next to it on her fore arm and an eagle with "USMC" across the bottom on her upper arm. She had about 26 tattoos on her body altogether.

"Three tours in Afghanistan" Gemma replied. "Barely made it out of the last one. I was discharged 4 years ago. But the things the corps teaches you, ya cant really unlearn."

Rick said nothing in response but walked up Gemma and shook her hand firmly.

"Glad to have you on our side." Rick said after a moment.

Gemma nodded and returned to loading her rifle.

Rick relayed his plan involving the guns. Where he left them by the tank.

Gemma helped Daryl prepare the truck. He was anxious to get going. Gemma stood by his side and tried her hardest to keep him calm. And with Daryl that wasn't hard. Her mere presence would put him even at a slight ease. Gemma, Daryl, Rick, T-Dog and Glenn finally all piled into the van and began their drive towards the destroyed city.

"He better be alright." Daryl warned T-Dog.

"I told you. I chained the door so they cant get at him." Said T-Dog.

"He better be."

They arrived in the city and cautiously exited the van. They quietly entered the department store, Daryl killing a walker he deemed an ugly skank as they went through. Gemma brought up the rear behind him, pistol in hand.

Once on the roof they unlocked the door to find a horrific sight.

"NO! No!" Daryl cried out.

Gemma stared shocked at her brother-in-laws detached hand. And the body nowhere in sight.


	2. Chapter 2

Heres another chapter for you guys. Let me know what you think!

"NO! No!" Daryl cried as they looked upon the gruesome scene. Gemma just stared in shock when Daryl very angrily pointed his cross bow at T-Dog. This then caused Rick to point his gun at Daryl which of course caused Gemma to point her rifle at Rick. It was a chain of disaster and tensions were high.

"I wont hesitate. I don't care if every walker in the city hears it." Said Rick

"You know that goes double for me." Gemma replied, gazed fixed on Rick.

But Daryl broke quickly and lowered his cross bow. And so the chain dissolved civilly.

Daryl regained his composer. "Got an empty bag or something?" He asked T-Dog, he reached into his picket and pulled out an handkerchief.

"Looks like the saw blade was too dull for the bone. Ain't that a bitch." Said Daryl as he held up the hand. Gemma stood behind him, seemingly unfazed by it all.

Daryl carefully wrapped the hand in the handkerchief before putting it in Glenn's backpack.

"He must have used a tourniquet of some kind," said Daryl. "Maybe his belt? Be much more blood if he hadn't."

They all slowly made their way off the roof, T-Dog being sure to grab Dale's tools. Daryl took front, yelling out for Merle. Gemma was close behind with Rick following. Glenn and T-Dog not far behind.

"Merle? You here?" Daryl called out. No response was heard.

At the bottom of the steps they came to a hallway with many rooms. Daryl quickly took out a walker with the crossbow. They came to a large room to find two walkers dead on the floor.

"He had enough in 'em to take out these two." Gemma observed.

"One-handed." Daryl added. "Toughest asshole there is, my brother."

"Any man can pass out from blood loss." Rick countered, "Don't matter if he's the toughest asshole in the world."

Daryl just shrugged off his comment as they continued. They followed a blood trail to down a long dark hallway. Daryl calling out for Merle every so-often.

"Remember, we aren't exactly alone here." Rick hushed.

"Daryl." Gemma groaned.

"He's dying. He could be bleeding out." Daryl defended. They came to a stove in the room that was still on.

"Oh man, ya know what this looks like." Gemma said to Daryl.

There was a belt and an iron sitting next to the burning stove. The iron covered in a black, sticky looking substance. The five of them stared in a near disgusted shock. Rick picked up the iron.

"Whats that stuff?" Glenn asked.

"Its skin." Gemma answered him, "He cauterized his own wound."

"Told you," said Daryl, "Ain't no one can kill Merle but Merle."

"He's still lost a lot of blood." Rick retorted.

"Didn't stop him from busting out of this joint." Said Daryl as they turned to find the window smashed open in the corner.

"He left the building?" Glenn said as they went over to investigate, "Why would you do that?"

Daryl looked through the hole Merle had smashed in the window, "Why wouldn't he? All he knows at this point is he has to survive."

"You call that surviving?" T-Dog snorted.

"Better than being handcuffed and left to rot by you sorry pricks!" Daryl challenged at Rick, Gemma close behind him, "But now you don't care about a dead bastard do you?"

"What about a thousand dead bastards?" Rick fought back.

"Doesn't matter to me, Im gonna go get 'em." Daryl went to move forward but Rick pushed him back.

"Daryl, wait!" Rick shouted.

"Hey, keep your hands off him!" Gemma shoved Rick back. Rick looked back at her in surprise.

"Stop it!" Glenn tried.

"You cant stop me!" Daryl shouted over him.

"I get it, he's family," Rick reasoned, "I went through hell and back to find mine. He cant get far with that injury so we should check a few blocks around but only if we keep a level head."

"I can do that." Daryl reasoned back.

"Only if we get those guns first." T-Dog spoke up.

Gemma nodded. "Its not even them Id worry about. Bound to be a lotta scavengers in the street willing to do anything to get our guns."

The others nodded.

"We need to figure out a game plan." Said Rick.

"I think Ive got something." Glenn spoke up.

He drew on a map explained to us the split position. Him, Gemma and Daryl in the alley. Rick and T-Dog on standby.

"I dunno about this man." Daryl spoke honestly.

"Yeah Im not sure splitting up is a good idea." Said Rick.

"No, it'll work its perfect. If we're all together, we're slow." Glenn explained. "If Im by myself, Im fast! In and out, no problem."

"He's right." Gemma spoke up. "Our best bet is to split up. We will cover more ground and quicker."

"Hey, kid, what did you do before all this?" Daryl asked Glenn.

"Delivered pizzas." He replied simply with a shrug. "Why?"

Gemma, Daryl and Glenn climbed sown the ladder into the alley, on the lookout for approaching walkers.

They made their way down the alley until they were in view of the tank and guns. Daryl loaded his crossbow and Gemma had her pistol ready. Glenn took off his jacket, getting ready to run.

"You got some balls for a chinaman." Daryl conmented.

"Im Korean." Glenn retorted.

"Whatever." Said Daryl. Gemma smirked.

Glenn made his way out of the alley while Gemma and Daryl stood by and waited.

"Think he's gonna make it?" Gemma asked Daryl.

Daryl shrugged," He seemed pretty confident."

Gemma could see a kid walking up the alley and nodded towards him. When the kid got close enough, Gemma and Daryl were out, weapons at the ready.

"Wait, don't shoot!" Said the kid, holding up him hands, "What do you want?"

"Im looking for my brother. He's hurt pretty bad, you seem 'em?" Daryl asked roughly.

The kid just began yelling for someone.

"Shut up!" Daryl yelled at him.

"Hey, kid keep it down!" Gemma shouted.

Finally Daryl jumped on him to cover his mouth. Out of no where two big Hispanic guys were going after Daryl. One kicked Daryl off the kid and started kicking him. The other grabbed Gemma's gun and began to try to overpower her. He had a baseball bat around her from behind while the other man kicked Daryl.

"Get off!" Gemma shouted.

Suddenly Glenn came back with the bag.

"Its the bag, take it!" One shouted as they ran after Glenn. They chased him to the end of the alley before knocking him down to get the guns, Gemma running after them. She kicked one in the back of the head as he bent down to pick up the guns and the larger one grabbed her and held her arms down. She began to kick him as hard as she could as he yelled in pain every time. The other man fought with Glenn over the bag. Finally Daryl was able to get up and grab his cross bow, effectively shooting the large one holding Gemma in the ass. He cried out in pain. As the other man dropped the bag and used Glenn as a shield. The larger man turned around so that he was using Gemma as well as she fought against him.

A car pulled up behind them as the two men drug their shields towards it.

"Daryl!" Gemma cried out.

"Gemma, hang on!" Daryl cries after her but was unable to shoot her captor without shooting her.

Gemma was yanked into the car along with Glenn and it quickly sped away, leAving Daryl in its dust.

"Gemma! No! Goddamn sons of bitches!" He called after it, his heart pumping fast. But a sea of walkers in front of him kept him from going after it.

Rick and T-Dog came sprinting down the alley towards him.

"They took Gemma. And Glenn. They took my wife, Goddamit!" Daryl was enraged. He lunges at the kid that he had still managed to keep captive, "Im gonna kick your nuts up into your throat! Where is she?!"

Rick held him back from destroying the kid. "Daryl! Wait! We will get her back, just don't do this!"

"You and your bastard homie friends! Im gonna stomp your ass, bitch!" Daryl shouted at the scared kid.

"Daryl calm down, lets get out of here." Said Rick.

They headed out of the alley, Kid in tow.

Glenn and Gemma in the car had been gagged in the meantime. Both looking at each other anxiously.

Rick, Daryl, T-Dog and the kid had found a safe room in a building.

"We need to know where your friends went." Rick calmly asked the kid while Daryl paced angrily behind him.

"I ain't telling you nothing." Was the kid's response.

"Man what the hell happened back there?" Asked an exasperated T-Dog.

"I told you!" Daryl shouted, "This little douchebag and his ass hole friends jumped me! Tried to take our guns and took my wife!"

"Your the one that jumped me, putto." The kid retorted, "Came outta know where, screaming about your brother like its my damn fault."

"They took Glenn and Gemma!" Daryl fought and paced, "Coulda taken Merle too!"

"What kind of name is Merle? I wouldn't name my dog that."

Daryl lunged at him again but Rick held him back.

"Damn it, Daryl, back off!" Said Rick.

Daryl just shrugged him off and went into Glenn's backpack. He pulled out Merle's decapitated hand.

"Wanna see what happened to the last guy who pissed me off?" He said to the kid as he unwrapped the hand.

He dropped it in the kids lap, who held it up for a moment before throwing it to the side.

"Ew man what the hell!? Your sick!"

Daryl came up and grabbed the kid by the throat, "Gonna start with the feet this time!"

Rick pulled Daryl off him, "The men you were with with took our friends. We just want to talk to them, see if we can work something out."

The kid looked at him for a moment before nodding,"Alright."

~Thats all for now. Sorry that one was a little shorter. There is a lot going on in this episode. Thanks for reading and reviewing!


	3. Chapter 3

Hey all! Heres chapter 3! Keep up the reviews! Disclaimer: I dont own The Walking Dead. Just my OC

Chapter 3

Rick kneeled in front of the kid, "The people you were with took our friends. We just want to talk to them, see if we can work something out."

The kid looked at him for a moment before nodding, "Alright."

Daryl, Rick, and T-Dog were led to an old abandoned building by the kid. They passed through multiple dilapidated structures before they came to 2 large double doors.

The double doors opened and a man stepped out, presumably Guillermo.

"You okay?" He asked the kid.

"They said they would cut off my feet, man!" The kid whined.

"Who, the cop?" Guillermo asked.

"Naw the scary ass redneck. He cut off some dudes hand and showed it to me!"

Just then, the large man to had a hold of Gemma stepped out.

"Hey thats the guy who shot me in the ass! Whats up, Putto?" He said, pointing a gun at Daryl.

"Aren't you the one that kidnapped my wife!? Where the hell is she!?"

Guillermo and Rick both held back their men.

"Is this true?" Guillermo asked, "You wanna cut off my cousins feet?"

"We wanted a calm discussion." Rick answered. "Didn't play out that way."

"You take my little cousin and try to cur off his feet, Filipe gets an arrow in the ass and you say you want a calm discussion?" Guillermo didn't seem convinced.

"Mistakes were made, on both sides." Said Rick. "Like kidnapping two of our own."

"Cutting off peoples hands and feet? Thats pretty sick." Said Guillermo."What are these people to you anyway? Don't exactly look related."

"They're part of out group." Rick answered.

"Not to mention my wife!" Daryl spoke up. "You got my brother in there too?"

"Sorry, fresh out of white boys." Said Guillermo. "Wife, though. Thats pretty interesting."

Daryl glared at him hard.

"Look, I have one of your people, you have two of mine. Lets just make this lives for lives and call it a deal." Rick tried to reason.

"My people were attacked. That doesn't compensate for the damages done to us." Guillermo came back. "Wheres my bag of guns?"

Rick was almost taken back for a moment.

"Bag of guns?"

Guillermo nodded, "The bags of guns on the street, the ones Filipe and Miguel went back to find. That bag of guns."

"Your mistaken." Rick answered.

"No, Im not." Guillermo insisted.

"Your mistaken about it being yours. Its my bag of guns. I left it out there because I had to to save myself now I'm coming back for it."

"It was left on the street, anyone could say it was theirs." Guillermo countered. "Whats to stop my people from unloading on you right now?"

Guns were suddenly drawn and the atmosphere got thick.

"You could do that," said Rick, "Or not." He motioned upwards towards the rooftops where they could see T-Dog on the rooftop with a sniper pointed at Guillermo.

Guillermo smirked before yelling out in Spanish. On the roof of the building Guillermo and his men came from, they had Gemma and Glenn. Both bound and gagged and nearly had them dangling over the roofs edge. They both appeared to be dirty, but unharmed. Glenn was breathing heaving and nervously. Gemma was still fighting against her captors in anyway she could. Constantly jerking from their grasp.

Daryl stepped forward, staring at the sight before him.

"You better let her go." He snarled to Guillermo.

"The way I see it, you have two options." Said Guillermo, "One; bring me my cousin and my bag of guns, no one gets hurt. Or two; you come back locked and loaded."

Guillermo and his men slowly retreated back into their building and the group headed back to their abandoned office.

"Guns are worth more than gold. But Gemma.. And the asian kid. Dammit." Daryl paced.

"Im not convinced that guy is just gona hand 'em over." Said T-Dog.

"Guillermo's a good guy." The kid spoke up.

"Are you part of this!?" Daryl yelled and slapped him upside the head, "I don't think so. Shut up!"

"So do you trust that mans word, thats the real question." T-Dog spoke to Rick.

"Question is, how much are you willing to bet on it." Daryl countered. "Im willing to bet on it if it gets Gemma back. What about the asian kid?"

"What life I have, I owe to him." Said Rick, "He didn't have to rescue me from that tank and bring me back to camp, but he did. And I found my family because of that. I owe him."

"So we're handing the guns over." Daryl clarified.

"Naw I didn't say that." Said Rick.

Daryl nodded and they started loading weapons.

"This is nuts, just do what he says." Said the kid.

The other ignored him as they prepared.

They bound and gagged the kid and led him back to the double doors. They pushed him inside as they went through the doors, guns at the ready.

"I see my guns, but not all in the bag." Said Guillermo to Rick.

"Thats because they're not yours. Thought I made that clear." Rick responded.

"Come on lets just kill them, unload on their asses!" Filipe encouraged. The tension was getting higher.

"I don't think you quite understand." Guillermo said to Rick.

"Oh no I understand just fine." Said Rick. He cut the kids bonds and pushes him forward,"You have your man, I want mine."

Guillermo didn't look at all pleased. "How about I chop them up and feed them to my dogs? How would you like that? I told you what I wanted, are you deaf?"

"No," Rick responded, raising his rifle, "You said come locked and loaded, here we are."

The guns all clicked and they pointed at each other. The tension so thick you could cut it with a knife. Then suddenly, they heard a frail voice.

"Filipe!" Called an old woman making her way towards them.

"Grandmother," Filipe answered, "Go back with the others."

"Grandma, listen to you grandson, go inside" said Guillermo.

The lady explained to them that someone was having an asthma attack and needed medicine.

"Filipe, go take care it." Guillermo ordered. Filipe tried to lead his grandma away before she stopped.

"Who are those men?" The lady demanded.

"Please, grandma." Filipe pleaded.

"Don't take my grandson!" The old lady marched right up to Rick."Fillipe's a good boy. He's here trying to pull himself together."

Rick sighed, "Ma'am, I'm not here to arrest your grandson. He's... uh.. He's helping us find a missing person."

"Oh, the Asian boy?" The old lady asked. Then she turned to Daryl, "And you! You must be looking for pretty tattoo girl. Come , come, they here." She ushered them to follow as the elderly woman grabbed Daryl's hand.

"Let them pass." Guillermo sighed to his men.

The woman led them out a door and through a pathway out into a yard. They crossed the yard to a building that resembled that of a hospital. They entered the building to find a more or less operational nursing home. The elderly woman released Daryl's hand so she could lead her grandson to the person needing help. They passed many rooms with people still in them and still caring for them.

They were led to a common room where Filipe went to assist the man who couldn't breath as the others went to Glenn who was standing by. As soon as Daryl entered the room he was bombarded by a dark haired creature who had jumped onto him.

"Babe. Are you okay?" He choked out as she hugged him.

Gemma released him. "Yeah Im okay. I guess the whole kidnapping was just a scare tactic to get the guns. They're not bad folks. Didn't exactly like being drug into the back of that car. But they keep this place running for the old people so."

"Damn it, Gem, I thought you were being made into dog food!" Daryl was still a little pissed.

Gemma smirked, "But I didn't and I'm here now." She placed a hand on his chest. Daryl took this moment to kiss her while the others were occupied.

"So they keep this place running for the old people? Must have had a lotta looters on their door step." Said Daryl.

"Guess thats why they keep it so shacked tight and all." Gemma responded. "They're a jumpy bunch for sure. Guillermo seems decent enough though."

"Haven't spotted Merle at all have you?" Daryl hoped, but to his avail, his wife shook her head.

"Not even when they had us up on that roof."

Daryl sighed. Gemma rested a hand on his back.

"Giving away half our guns and ammo." Daryl complained as soon as they left the nursing home.

"Not nearly half." Responded Rick. They came to where their van should have been to find it gone.

"Wheres the van, who would take it?" Glenn panicked.

"Merle." Rick almost snarled.

"He's gonna be takin some vengeance back to camp." Said Daryl.

"Thats for damn sure." Gemma seconded, "Better start running if we're gonna make it."

After a mile, they took a quick stop. Glenn was breathing so hard you could hear him a mile away.

"How are you not out of breath?" Glenn said to Gemma, who had much less heavy breathing.

"Used to run five miles every morning In the Marines. Im just used to it." She responded.

They ran/walked the rest of the way in mostly silence. As they got closer to camp they began to hear voices, and as they got closer, screaming.

"Come on!" Said Rick as they ran full speed towards camp.

They entered camp to find walkers everywhere.

"Oh shit!" Said Gemma as they pulled out their weapons and began taking out walkers.

Daryl had made his way over to the other side of the camp looking for Merle.

"Gemma!" He called out.

"Here!" She called back from by the RV, trying to help Shane shield the other women and the kids.

Once they finally killed all the walkers, Gemma found Daryl.

"Did you find him?" He asked.

"No, he's not here. Why wouldn't he come back?" Gemma responded.

Daryl hugged her for a brief moment before they turned to the scene around them. Bodies everywhere. Andrea crying over Amy's body, the Morales' where distraught, Sophia and Carl in tears.

"Come on." Daryl led Gemma away to their tent. "Sun'll be up in a few. Might as well sleep for an hour then deal with all this."

They entered their tent, each taking their boots off. Gemma pulled her sweaty tank top over her head and peeled off her jeans. She put a shirt of Daryl's on and climbed under their sleeping bag. Daryl pulled off his sweaty clothes and climbed in next to her. She laid her head on his chest and he rested his arm on her back as the two exhausted figures finally fell asleep to sound of each others breathing.

"I love you." Came a faint whisper through the dark.

"I love you too." Came a more gruff whisper in return.


	4. Chapter 4

Hey all! So this one is a little bit short but I put in a nice flashback for you guys to when Daryl and Gemma were teens. Hope you like it! Next chapter is going to be much longer, scouts honor! KEEP REVIEWING PLEASE IT MAKES ME HAPPY! :)

Chapter 4

_A young girl with long, dark hair strode through a school hallway. Lockers passing by as she went, a sea of faces that was slowly fading around her. The last bell had rang and most students were hurrying off to catch the bus. She was taking her time. She stopped in front of her locker and began fiddling with the lock._

_"Hey, Reed!" A voice came from behind._

_She turned and smiled, "Well, well, well if it isn't douchebag Daryl. What are you doin'?"_

_She turned back to her locker and he approached her and leaned on the locker beside hers._

_"Waiting for your ass. Duh. Waddaya takin' so long for?"_

_"Told you! Its the last day for seniors today so I gotta get all this shit outta here." She had finally opened her locker and was now stuffing the contents into her back pack._

_"Graduating tomorrow huh? You excited?"_

_"Kinda. And nervous. Alright, lets go." She had finally stuffed her backpack full and had slung it over her shoulder. She followed Daryl as they exited the school into the parking lot._

_"Wow, Gemma, I wasn't aware to were into such older, dirtier men." Came a laugh as they walked towards Daryl's truck._

_"Fuck you, Ashley." Came Gemma's quick response, without even a glance at the other girl._

_And without another word the two of them hopped in the truck and were on their way._

_Daryl looked over at Gemma in the passenger seat as they drove down a straight away towards Daryl's house._

_"Ready for me to be a Marine, Daryl?" She said to him without looking at him. Almost if she had read his mind._

_He looked away, "When are you leaving again?"_

_"One week as of today."_

_Daryl bit his knuckle and glared out at the road._

_Gemma finally looked over at him, "Its just Basic Training, Daryl. Not like Im gonna be in some other country or something."_

_"Yeah, well. Who the hell else am I supposed to goof off with when you leave?" He tried to joke with her, but he truthfully found none of it funny at all._

_"Its only 7 months. I think you can survive. Besides, you have Merle."_

_As soon as they stepped out of the truck they could hear Merle yelling about something in the house._

_He walked out onto the porch upon hearing the truck pull up._

_"Gemma Bird!" Merle called out, almost too excited,"Well now whats a fine young piece of tail like you hanging out with this redneck?"_

_"Shut up!" Daryl called back._

_Gemma just laughed at them. She always found it best to just laugh Merle off. He was just the way he was._

_Daryl and Gemma spent most of their time down at the creek behind Daryl's house. The followed animal tracks, skipped rocks and talked about what they wanted to do when Gemma got back from basic training. The Georgia summer heat lasted into the evening as the two walked around the forest. Daryl had been trying his hardest to spend time with his best friend and secret crush before she left. He had been telling himself that he needed to tell her how he felt about her, but always found himself unable to even put the words together. He was bad at this stuff and he knew it. But Gemma seemed to see right through him. She always had. He wouldn't be surprised if she already knew. Especially since he had done less and less to hide it lately._

_The sun was starting to go down and the crickets slowly began to chirp._

_"Im gonna miss being out here." Gemma said, looking around while sitting on a long over the creek. Allowing the sounds and smells of the forest to surround her and Daryl by her side._

_"Its not gonna be the same with out." Daryl responded without thinking._

_Gemma smiled at him, "Daryl Dixon, are you getting all sentimental on me? You never get like that."_

_Daryl just stared at the ground as he tried to think of what to say, "Well, I mean..."_

_"Daryl I get it. Its ok. This is really hard for me too. We've been best friends since I was 4 and you were 6." Gemma almost looked sad now, "We ain't really ever spent more than a week away from each other."_

_She sat up better and rested her head on his shoulder._

_"Gemma." Daryl said._

_She pulled her head up and looked at him, "Yeah?"_

_"Im gonna miss you."_

_"Aw. Im gonna-"_

_She was cut off because Daryl had very suddenly crashed his lips into hers. He pulled away and saw the shocked look on her face._

_"Ah, shit, Im sorry, I screwed everything up, I always do." He was on his feet now, about to storm away in a huge, hurt, confused huff as he stammered at her._

_"DARYL!" She shouted, breaking him from his frantic state, "Its okay. Calm down."_

_"What?" Was all he could respond with. She didn't hate him? Why?_

_"I said its okay." She replied firmly. She stood up and walked up to him. She gently placed her hands on either side of his face. He flinched for a moment until when she pulled him towards her and kissed him._

_"You knew." He stated when they pulled away._

_Gemma smiled and kissed him once more._

_"I want you to be mine." He said to her quietly , as if theres was some imaginary person there who would hear._

_Gemma looked up at him, confidence and passion beaming from her eyes, "I always have been. And I always will be."_

Gemma opened her eyes to see the top of the yellow tent she shared with Daryl. Her stomach churned with disappointment in the fact that her dream had not been a reality. She turned to her side to find Daryl still asleep. The sun was just coming up, they had only been asleep for 2 hours at the most. She crept from beneath the sleeping bag so as to not wake Daryl. She pulled on a pair of jeans, a grey muscle shirt and her boots. She pulled on her belt containing her gun and knife holsters. She then started to grab some clothes and stuff them in a bag. Mostly hers and Daryl's dirty things. Grabbing soap and a towel, she exited the tent.

People were still awake but she was fairly able to sneak by them unnoticed. She grabbed an apple and granola bar for breakfast on her way.

It didn't take her long to wash everything that needed it. They didn't have much between the 2 of them. Daryl was most likely awake by now and looking for her. Finishing wringing out the last shirt, she hauled her wet laundry to the camp.

Camp was as dreary as ever after the events of the previous night. She entered the camp to find everyone bustling around or worrying over Andrea, who had lost her sister, Amy. She brought the wet clothes to the clothes line and began hanging things up. Daryl had spotted her and headed over.

"So thats where ya went." He said walking up to her.

"Figured id get it out of the way." She replied. "I see Andrea hasn't moved."

"Im not liking it. We should take care of it." Daryl shook his head.

Gemma just loomed hard at the woman as she wrung out a shirt once more before hanging it, "She just don't know nothin' about death. Its plain as day."

Daryl nodded. "Well I'm gonna go help with the clean up." And walked away grumbling something something probably rude about the others.

"Be there in a few." His wife responded, finishing the last of her hanging.

Gemma was just about to walk back to the tent to drop off her backpack when she heard Lori scold the boys about leaving Andrea be. Gemma smirked. It was about time Lori grew some balls, in her opinion.

She left the tent and returned back to camp. She spotted Daryl helping Glenn move bodies about was about to go help when Jacqui started calling out, "A walker bit Jim!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and went towards the scene. Shane, Rick, Daryl, T-Dog and Gemma where on Jim like wildfire.

"Show it to us." Daryl demanded to Jim.

Jim immediately got defensive and grabbed his shovel, swinging it towards Shane and Daryl.

"Grab him! Grab him!" Shane shouted.

Gemma grabbed Jim from behind, forcing him to drop his shovel and pinned his arms back.

"Daryl!" She called.

Daryl came over and lifted his shirt. Sure enough, a bite.

"Im okay, Im okay, Im okay." Jim kept repeating.

They tied Jim up and gathered in a group to try to figure out what to do.

"I say we put a pickaxe in his head and be done with it." Gemma said coldly, arms crossed over her chest as she stood next to her husband.

"The dead girls too." Daryl seconded.

"He's not a monster Gemma. Is that what you'd want if it were you?" Shane retorted.

"Damn right I would." She responded.

"I hate to say this, but maybe Gemma and Daryl are right." Said Dale.

"He's not some kind of rabid dog, Dale." Said Rick.

"Im not say he's a dog, he's going to be one of them." Said Dale.

"He's still alive. I don't wanna have to draw that line." Said Rick.

"I thought the line was pretty clear." Said Daryl, "Zero tolerance for walkers. Or soon-to-be."

"Maybe we can get him help. I heard the CDC was working on a cure." Said Rick.

"Heard a lotta things before the world went to hell." Said Gemma.

"Still. I think the CDC is still running." Said Rick.

"Do you honestly?" Shane asked disbelievingly.

"If theres any kind of structure at all left don't you think thats where they'd be?" Rick responded, "I think its our best bet. Food, shelter, protection."

"Look we all want those things man, but that is a long shot." Said Shane, "Our best bet is Fort Bedding."

"Thats 100 miles in the opposite direction." Said Lori.

"It'll be heavily armed. We could be safe there." Shane replied.

"They were overrun, we all saw that!" Rick replied.

"Do whatever you guys gotta do. Someone has to have the balls to take care of this problem." Daryl grabbed his pickaxe and headed straight towards Jim. He was about to plunge the pickaxe into Jim's head before Rick came up behind him.

"We do not kill the living." He snarled to Daryl, cocking his gun.

"Funny coming from a guy with a gun pointed at his head." Gemma had the barrel of her pistol pointed at Rick's skull.

"We may all disagree on some things but not on this. Go in, put 'em down. All y'all." Said Shane. The pickaxe was dropped and weapons were holstered.

Daryl stalked off, fuming. Gemma followed.

He sat down for a brief moment in a shady spot away from the camp and she sat next to him.

"I had a dream last night. About the day we first kissed. My last day of senior year." She said to him.

Daryl groaned, "What'd ya go dreaming about that awkward moment for?"

Gemma thought for a moment, "I think it reminds me of way things used to be. Before the war."

Daryl looked over at her. The war had changed her. A lot.

"Come on. Better get to finishing that clean up job before camp gets overrun." Daryl stood up and reached down to grab her hand. She took it and together they walked back to camp, unsure of what would await them.


	5. Chapter 5

Hey guys! So sorry I havent updated in a while. Bet you thought i disappeared didnt you? Naw Life just got a little a crazy. And its gona get crazy over the next few days but after that, less craziness! So i tried to make this one extra long for you giys. And cute scene with Gemma and Daryl at the end! PLEASE REVIEW MORE! Enjoy:) Disclaimer: I dont own the Walking Dead.

Chapter 5

And so, after much deliberation, the decision was made to go to the CDC. At least just to find out. Gemma and Daryl both were unsure of the decision but supposed staying at the rock quarry forever wouldn't do them any good. So what the hell. Gemma spent some time packing their belongings and supplies while Daryl worked on Merle's motorcycle and the truck. Gemma missed _her_ truck. The beautiful black Chevy Silverado she was unable to go back to the house for. She missed their house as well. She thought about it while she packed their sleeping bags. Its light blue paint that they had painted when they bought it, the huge yard, the cute, traditional front porch. It was a place Gemma and Daryl had finally been able to call home.

Daryl loaded up the motorcycle while Gemma finished taking down the tent and loaded their bags. Finally they were off. The drive was mostly quiet while an Aerosmith CD played through the stereo. Daryl had one hand on the wheel and the other on Gemma's knee, as he always did. Gemma had her hand on his while she smoked a cigarette with the other. She eventually let Daryl remove his hand for a moment to take a drag of her smoke before resuming its spot on her knee. They drove like this for a while until they all came to a stop.

Everyone exited their vehicles to see what was going on. Apparently, the radiator blew on the RV.

"Told you we wouldnt get very far." Dale told Rick, "Its more duct tape than hose at this point. And I'm out of duct tape."

"I see something up ahead." Said Shane, looking through the bonaculars, "Might not be much but maybe a gas station."

At that moment, Jacqui cane running from the RV, "Y'all, its Jim. I dont think he can take much more."

"Rick you wanna hold down the fort while I check it out?" Said Shane.

"Yeah, Ill go too." T-Dog seconded.

Rick nodded and went into the RV to check on Jim.

Gemma looked over at Daryl as they stood off to the side.

"Well ain't this excitin'" she said sarcastically.

Daryl shook his head, "Bunch'a idiots." He mumbled.

Gemma smirked and went over to the truck to get water. She took a few drinks from her canteen before handing it to Daryl.

"You still worried about Merle?" Gemma asked her husband.

Daryl shook his head.

"Dont you lie to me, Daryl." She placed a hand on his shoulder which caused him to look at her, "We'll see him again, babe."

She kissed him and it was kiss Daryl never wanted to end. But when it did a few moments later, the two headed back over to the others.

"He wants us to leave him behind." Rick told the group honestly.

"And hes lucid?" Carol questioned.

"Naw. He seems pretty clear and this is what he wants."

"Back at the camp when I said Gemma might be right and you shot me down," dale began to Rick, "I was merely going to suggest that we ask Jim what he wants. And I think we have our answer."

"We just leave him here? And take off? Im not sure I could live with that." Said Shane.

"Its not your call. Either one of you." Lori spoke up.

Shane and Rick proceeded to help Jim out of the RV and under a nearby tree on the road side.

Everyone said their goodbyes to Jim, including Gemma and Daryl. Gemma looked back at Jim once as they went back towards the vehicles. Leaving someone like that seemed so crude, but she was content to the idea that they were fulfilling his final wish. The group climbed into their vehicles and they on the road to Atlanta once more.

When they arrived at the CDC, what they saw was not what they expected as they exited their vehicles. Bodies littered the ground and walkers loomed all around them. Weapons at the ready, they proceeded in a tight group towards the building.

"Stay quiet." Rick whispered.

They weaved around bodies as they approached the building. The smell in the air was thick with rotting corpses. Gemma and Daryl were side-by-side. Gemma had her pistol with her rifle over her back, Daryl had his crossbow and rifle. Walkers began to notice them as they whispered by. They approached the front door to find it tightly locked down.

"Now what?" Gemma asked Rick harshly.

Shane and Rick tried to push up on the sealed doors but they wouldnt budge.

"Theres nobody here." Said T-Dog.

"Then why is it all sealed up?" Said Rick.

"Walkers!" Daryl called out. He shot one with his bow before turning to Rick, "You led us into a death trap!"

"He made a call!" Said Shane

"Well it was the wrong damn call!"

"Shut up! Do you hear me?" Shane advanced on Daryl, "Rick, this is a dead end."

"We cant be this close to the city after dark." Said Lori.

"We need to get out of here, all this yellin', it wont be long now." Said Gemma.

"Fort Bedding, Rick. Its still an option." Shane said.

"On what? No food, no fuel. Thats 100 miles." Said Andrea.

"Forget Fort Bedding. We need answeres tonight, now." Said Lori.

Everyone was starting to lose it, the kids were scared and crying. Gemma was getting frusrated with the inability to make a decision.

"Look we are gona take some time to think, okay?" Said Rick.

"We dont have time to think, we need to act!" Said Gemma.

"Come on, man!" Shane coersed Rick and they began making their way away from the building.

"That camera moved!" Rick shouted, "It moved! Hey, can you hear me? Please help us! Let us in!"

"It ain't movin', man, now come on." Shane tried to pull Rick away but Tick wasnt having it.

"Please," he spoke to the camera, "We have children with us, please!"

"Is he out of his damn mind?" Gemma said to Daryl.

But suddenly, the doors opened.

The group cautiously made their way through the doors and the doors closed behind them, shielding them from the incoming walkers.

"Hello?" Rick called out, "Hello?!"

Then they heard the sound of a shotgun reloading,"Anyone infected?" Came a voice. They looked up to see a tall, blond man holding a rifle.

"One of our group was. He didnt make it." Rick responded.

"What do you want?" Asked the man.

"A chance."

"Thats asking an awful lot these days."

"I know."

The man stepped out and looked us over before responding.

"You all submit to a blood test," he said, "Thats the price of admission."

"We can do that." Rick nodded.

The tension dropped quickly as the man nodded back, "If you need to bring anything in do it now. Once those doors close, they stay closed."

The group quickly hauled in their things from the vehicles and re-enteted the building. Gemma grabbed hers and Daryl's bags from the back of the truck as well as a bag of supplies and made her way back inside, Daryl covering her.

They all followed the man and crowded into a small elevator where they learned his name was Dr. Edwin Jenner.

"Doctors always packing heat like that?" Daryl asked, Gemma rolled her eyes.

"Plenty laying around. So I familiarized myself," Jenner responded. He looked at Daryl for a moment, "You look harmless though."

Jenner looked down at Carl, "Except you. Ill have to keep an eye on you."

Gemma smirked. They reached the right floor and exited the elevator.

"Are we under ground?" Carol asked.

"Claustrophobic?" Jenner responded.

"A little."

"Try not to think about it."

They came to a large, open main room with dozens of what looked like hightech computer stations.

"Vi, bring up the lights in the big room." Said Jenner.

Instantly, the large overhead lights came on.

"Where is everybody?" Asked Rick, "The doctors, the staff?"

"Im it. Its just me here." Jenner responsed, taking a seat in one of the office chairs.

"What about the person you were just speaking with?" Lori asked.

"Vi, say hello to our guests. Tell them welcome." Said Jenner.

"Hello, guests. Welcome." Came the computerized voice.

"Im all thats left." Said Jenner. "Im sorry."

From there, he rounded everyone up for the blood tests. Daryl couldnt sit still during his. It reminded Gemma of when he was squirmy kid.

"Well I can see your no stranger to needles." Jenner said when it was Gemma's turn.

Gemma sat down in front of him like the others and held out her not tattooed arm.

"How long did it take to fill your arm?" He asked.

"10 years altogether. Started the day I turned 18." Gemma responded.

"A Marine, huh?" He motioned to the Eagle tattoo, "Thats pretty impressive."

He finished up her draw and she shrugged. "Best job I ever had." She told him before she joined her husband.

Jenner led them to the kitchen which was well stocked. The women began preparing the meal while the men located the wine. The eating and drinking actually put Gemma at an ease. She was sipping on a glass of wine, laughing and smiling with the others.

Andrea, to Gemma's left, looked over at her and smiled, "I think this is the first time Ive ever seen you smile, Gemma."

Gemma was almost embarrassed.

"Thanks for helping with dinner." Andrea told her.

"Its no trouble." Gemma responded, "I ain't that handy in the kitchen but I try."

"That is such a lie." Said Daryl as he took a bit of his food, "This is good but Id kill for a plate of your steak and potatos, babe."

Gemma just nudged his arm.

"How long have you been married? If you dont mind me asking." Asked Andrea.

"Four years." Gemma responded, pouring herself another glass of wine.

They all laughed when Carl tried some of his mom's wine.

"Better stick to soda pop there, bud." Said Shane.

"Not you Glenn!" Said Daryl, pointing at Glenn from across the table, "I wanna see how red your face will get little man."

They all laughed.

Rick stoood up, "It seems to me, we all havent thanked our host properly."

"He is more than just our host!" T-Dog rose his glass, "Here!"

"Here!" Was repeated all around as they toasted.

"When are you gonna tell us what the hell hapened here?" Shane said after a moment, "The other doctors. Where are they?"

"Shane, we're celebrating right now. Can it wait?" Said Rick.

"Isnt this why you took us here? To find answeres? But instead we found him. One man. Why?"

"Well. When things got bad, a lot of people just left. Others went to go be with thier families. And when it got really bad, the rest bolted." Said Jenner.

"All of them?" Asked Shane.

"No. Some couldnt face what was out there. So they opted out. There was a rash of suicides."

"Your still here. Why?" Asked Gemma.

"I just kept working. Hoping to do some good."

"Dude you are a total buzzkill." Said Glenn to Shane.

Jenner led them down a hallway of offices, "A lot of these have couches but theres some cots in the utility closet I can pull out as well. Theres also a rec room that you kids might like. Just dont plug anything in while your in there. Same applies to you all. If you take a shower, go easy on the hot water."

Gemma looked at Daryl with excitement in her eyes at the sound of hot water.

Gemma and Daryl chose a room and immediatley went to the showers. As soon as she stepped under the hot water, Gemma felt like a new woman. Daryl came in behind her. They washed eachother in the crude soap Gemma had then stood there under the water for a moment. It felt like the first time since the world fell apart that Gemma was able to melt into her husbands chest without fear of being killed at any second.

"How about this babe? A shower, booze and no walkers." Daryl said.

"It feels so good not to be worried about dying for one night." Gemma responded.

Daryl looked her in the eyes, "Wanna take this party to the room?"

Gemma had the water off and out of the shower in a matter of seconds. Daryl smirked as he followed her out. They reaches their room and closed the door. Gemma kissed Daryl like she hadnt seen him in months but Daryl didnt hesitate. He pulled her closer to him before he pulled away breifly.

"Be right back, babe." He said.

"Where are you going?" She whined at him. Gemma never whined.

"Just to get a bottle, baby, I'll be right back. You just get that sweet ass into bed." He gave her one more kiss before he pulled away, smacking her ass as he made his way out the door.

"Oh your gonna pay for that!" Gemma called as she crawled into her and Daryl's make shift couch bed. She shed her towel and waited excitedly. Her and Daryl hadnt been together since the world dell apart and she was eager for a night alone with her husband. She tilted her head back against the couch and smirked. Oh, the trouble she was about to unlease on him.


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry it took me so pong to update! I had to move then get new internet. Heres the last of Season 1! Super stoked to say i will most definitely be continuing into season 2! Stay tuned! REVIEWS MAKE ME HAPPY! JUST SAYIN!

Chapter 6

Gemma wasnt sure if it was morning yet or not when she woke but she couldnt sleep any longer anyway. Stretching once, she detangled herself from Daryl, who was still blissfully asleep on their couch bed, and she quickly dressed. She wandered to the kitchen to find some others awake aswell. She got herself a cup of coffee as Daryl came slowly trudging into the room, clearly hungover. Gemma smiled at him as she sat at the table with the others.

"Doctor I dont mean to slam you with questions first thing," Dale spoke up.

"But you will." Jenner responded.

"We didnt come here for the eggs." Said Andrea.

And so Dr. Jenner took the group downstairs to lab and relayed to them the story of Test Subject 19. They watched the screen as the virus took hold of brain, killed it, then slowly got it working again. But, not as it was before.

"It restarts the brain?" Asked Lori.

"No, just the brain stem." Said Jenner, "It gets them up and moving."

"But their not alive." Said Rick.

"You tell me." Was Jenner's response.

"Its nothing like before." Rick replied, "Most of that brain is dark, dead."

"Exactly. The frontal lobe, the 'you' part. That doesnt come back. Just a shell driven by mindless instinct."

Suddently, something went through the brain on the screen.

"What was that?" Said Carol.

"He killed his own patient." Gemma answered her.

"Vi, power down the main screen."

And Vi did so.

"You have no idea what it is, do you?" Asked Andrea.

"It could be microbial," answered Jenner, "bacterial, parasitic, fungal."

"Or the wrath of God." Jacqui spoke up.

Jenner looked over at her, "There is that."

"Somebody must know something." Andrea panicked at Jenner, "Somewhere."

"There are others, right?" Carol asked.

"There may be some. People like me." Replied Jenner.

"How do you not know?" Asked Rick.

"Everything went down. Including communications. Ive been in the dark for almost a month."

"So its not just here." Andrea confirmed. "Theres nothing left anywhere. Thats what your saying, right?"

Jenner kust looked at them all and they knew. It wasnt just here in Georgia or just here in the US. For the first time, the group had complete comfirmation that the world had indeed ended.

"I cant believe it.." Andrea huffed.

"Man Im gonna get shit faced drunk again." Daryl grouned to Gemma.

"Dr. Jenner, I know this has been hard on you," Dale started, "and I hate to ask one more question. But that clock is counting down to sonething. What is it?"

Dale pointed up at the large digital clock on the wall that was counting down. There was only an hour left on it.

"The basement generators. They run out of fuel." Jenner answered.

"And then?" Gemma questioned.

Jenner didnt answer her and continued walking.

"Vi, what happens when the power runs out?" Rick asked.

"When the power runs out, facility wide decontamination will occur." Vi answered.

"Decontamination? What the hell?" Said Gemma.

"Rick we need to shut this down." Said Shane as everyone started to panick.

Rick, Shane, Glenn, T-Dog, and Gemma all ran towards the basment generators as fast as they could and began looking.

"Oh Shit." Gemma muttered as her and Rick came up on the nearly empty fuel tank connected to the generator.

"Its empy." Rick stated as Shane walked up.

Just as he said that, the lights went out.

"What the hell is this?" Said Shane.

Glenn and T-Dog came running up.

"Did you kill the lights?" Asked Glenn.

"Naw, it just happened. Find anything?" Asked Rick.

"Lotta dead generators and enpty fuel drums." Said T-Dog.

"It cant be down to just that one." Said Shane.

"Well it is. Look around. Aint nothin else left in here." Said Gemma. "All of these fuel drums are empty."

"Lets get back up. Nothin we can from down here." Said Rick.

They headed back up to the upper level. Everyone was panicking, unsure of what was about to happen.

Rick ran immediatley up to Jenner, "Whats happening?"

"The system is dropping any nonessential uses of power. Its programmed to keep the computers running up to the very last second." Jenner responded.

Jenner had snagged a bottle of whiskey from Daryl's hand and was sipping on it as they followed him into the main computer room. Gemma had Daryl by the hand, mostly because of the overwhelming unpredictability of the situation. This man was cutting corners on the answeres they wanted and it unsettled her. Everyone looked at him in disbelife and Daryl snatched the whiskey bottle back from him.

"It was the French." Jenner said suddenly, looking at Andrea.

"What?" She responded.

"They lasted the longest. A lot of people ran but they stayed til the very end. They thought they were close to a cure or at least an understanding of it."

"What happened?" Asked Jacqui.

"Same thing thats happening here. No power grid, no power. And eventually it all runs out of juice." Said Jenner. "The world runs on fossil fuel, how stupid is that?"

"I dont believe this shit!" Shane started to yell.

"Shane, stop!" Rick yelled, pulling Shane back, "Lori, everyone get your stuff together, we're getting out of here!"

They tried to make for their rooms when Jenner closed the doors into the hallways so they couldnt get out.

"What the hell, you just locked us in here!?" Daryl came at Jenner before Shane grabbed him.

Jenner ignored him and started talking into his computer.

Rick started pleading with Jenner.

"I cant, its not something I can control, the computers do. I told you, once i opened those doors, they wouldnt open again. You heard me say that." Jenner said. "Its better this way."

"What is? Whats gona happen?" Asked Rick.

Jenner ignored him. Then Shane garbbed him by the back of the colar. "Whats gona happen!?"

"In the event of such as a thing as a terrorist attack or just power failure for the facility, HITs are deployed to prevent any organism from getting out." said Jenner.

Everyone looked confused, except Gemma.

"HITs?" Questioned Rick.

"Hyapulse Thermofuel Air explosives." Gemma defined for him, "Theyre gona set the damn air on fire. We gotta find a way out of here, now!"

"Shes exactly right." Said Jenner, as everyone began crying around him. "An end to it all. Finally."

The biys began doing whatever they could to break the door doen, Daryl continued to demand that Jenner do something about it and everyone else was upset. Gemma was staying as calm as she could. Their fate seemed to be sealed in her eyes but she felt useless just standing off to the side.

"No dent." Said an exasperated Shane as the men rejoined the mindless (or so Gemma thought) conversation in the group.

"Those doors are made to withstand a rocket launcher." Jenner mocked.

"But your head aint!" Daryl suddenly came running in with a pickaxe while Gemma and Rick grabbed him.

"Hey! Daryl, stop! No use takin him out. Aint gona change a thing." She told him.

"I know!" Said Daryl after a moment, "Woulda made me feel better."

"You do want this!" Jenner spoke to Rick, "You said you knew it was only a matter of time last night."

Lori looked at Rick with surprise and saddness.

"You really say that?" Shane looked at Rick.

"I had to keep hope alive!" Rick responded.

"But there is not hope!"

"There is always hope." Rick affirmed.

Gemma watched this all go down as the clock counted down. She help onto Daryl's hand tight. Everyone seemed to beat up on Rick for having hope.

"You dont understand. This is our extinction event." Said Jenner.

Everyone started to cry again. Extinct? Gemma couldnt believe that. There are too many tough people in the world for that to happen. Or at least she hoped so.

"You cant do this!" Carol pleaded, "You cant keep us in here!"

Gemma looked at Daryl, they were slightly branched off from the rest of the group. "Whatever happens, I love you."

He looked back at her, uncertaintly filled his eyes. "I love you too, babe."

Things started to unfold when Shane out the shotgun to Jenner's head, Rick and Lori trying to talk him down. Gemma and Daryl were circling nearby.

Finally, Shane let loose and started shooting up the computers in a blind rage.

"Get down!" Daryl yelled at Gemma before Rick finally got the gun away from Shane.

"I think your lying." Said Rick to Jenner. "About there being no hope. If really thought that, you would have bolted but you didnt. You chose the hard way, not the easy way. Why?"

"Doesnt matter." Muttered Jenner.

"Course it matters, it always matters. You stayed when others ran. Why?"

"Not because I wanted to." Said Jenner, getting back in Rick's face. "Because I made a promise. To her. My wife." He pointed up to the screen where he had shown them the video of Subject 19.

"Subject 19 was your wife?" Questioned Lori.

Gemma grimaced and reached for Daryl's hand again.

"She begged me to keep going as long as I could. I had to." Jenner replied sadly. "It should have been me on the table. She was a loss to the world. Hell, she ran this place. I just worked here. In our field, she was an Einstein! She could have done something about this, not me."

Daryl had not resumed banging on the door and Gemma was listening to Tick and Jenner talk.

"Your wife didnt have a choice." Said Rick, "Bur you do. Thats all we want. A choice."

"Let us keep going as long as we can." Lori pleaded.

Jenner huffed. "The top ones dont open, I told you I cant open those."

He went over a pressed a few buttons on the computer before unlocking the door that led to their rooms and lower level.

"Come on!" Daryl garbbed Gemma's hand and they quickly collected their bags and headed up the stairs.

They finally reached the front doors and tried to break the glass but it wouldnt budge.

"Shit!" Gemma yelled and looked at Daryl.

They moved out of the way so that Shane could shoot at it with the shot gun. But nothing. Everyone was frustrated and enraged.

That was, until Carol came to Rick with the grenade she had found in his pocket when he first got to camp.

"Everyone get down!" Rick yelled.

Daryl grabbed Gemma and pulled her away as Rick pulled the clip and ran as far away as he could. A loud explosion and a breif ear ringing moment and the glass was finally broken. Without another word the group ran out as quickly as they could. They all made it to their vehicles before they saw Dale and Andrea making their way out. Daryl and Gemma hoped in the truck and watched the place when up in ine of the craziest explosions Gemma had ever seen. No one said anything after that. It was quiet. The cars eventually started after they all caught their breath. It was back on the road. Gemma kept her hand on Daryl's leg as they drove. She found a cigarette in her bag and lit it. Daryl brought her hand to lips and kissed it once before she handed him the rest of her smoke. Within minutes, blissful sleep took her and she listened to the hum of her husband's old truck.


End file.
